Adoption Statement - Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan

Publication date: 6/4/1997 | Type of document: Adoption Statement

The 1997 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan is a guide to conserving and protecting the blue crab resource for long-term ecological, economic and social benefits

Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan (Report)

Publication date: 6/1/1997 | Type of document: Management Plan

The 1997 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan incorporates new information and management strategies into the 1989 fishery management plan.

Blue Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay (555 KB)

Publication date: 7/7/2003 | Type of document: Fact Sheet

This fact sheet overviews blue crab anatomy, life cycle, habitat and current status of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population

Chesapeake Bay & Atlantic Coast Horseshoe Crab Fishery Management Plan

Publication date: 12/1/1994 | Type of document: Management Plan

The goal of the Horseshoe Crab Fishery Management Plan is to protect the horseshoe crab resource in the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coast to ensure its continued role in the ecology of coastal ecosystems, while providing the opportunity for commercial, recreational and medical usage over time.

Adoption Statement - Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan, Amendment (118 KB) (Order hard-copy)

Publication date: 12/9/2003 | Type of document: Adoption Statement

The adoption statement was to implement the management strategies and actions recommended by this amendment to protect blue crab spawning potential, reduce exploitation, increase our biological understanding of blue crabs through monitoring, identify and protect blue crab habitat, and incorporate ecosystem processes.

Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan

Publication date: 5/1/1998 | Type of document: Management Plan

Incorporates new information from the first Baywide stock assessment and recommends additional management strategies. Plan recommendations to protect the health of the blue crab stock which has the highest monetary value of any Bay commercial fishery

Ecosystem Effects of Oyster Restoration in Virginia Habitat and Lease Areas (1.23 MB)

Publication date: 6/1/2006 | Type of document: Report

This report is the third in a series in which the Chesapeake Bay Environment Model Package was used to assess the environmental benefits of oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. Here, the effects of oyster restoration to all potential Virginia oyster habitat were investigated.

Non-native Oysters and the Chesapeake Bay (205 KB)

Publication date: 8/14/2003 | Type of document: Fact Sheet

While Chesapeake Bay Program partners continue their work to restore native oysters, efforts are also underway to better understand the risks and benefits surrounding the possible introduction of non-native oysters into the Bay. This backgrounder provides a brief history of the study of non-native oysters in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the debate surrounding the issue

Black Drum Fishery Management Plan

Publication date: 5/1/1994 | Type of document: Report

The 1997 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan incorporates new information and management strategies into the 1989 fishery management plan.

Apoption Statement - 2004 Oyster Management Plan (73 KB)

Publication date: 1/10/2005 | Type of document: Adoption Statement

An adoption statement signed by the Executive Council to continue the 2004 Oyster Management Plan.  The 2004 Oyster Management Plan provides both a general framework and specific guidance for rebuilding and managing the native oyster, Crassostrea virginica, in the Chesapeake Bay.

Oyster Fishery Management Plan (1989)

Publication date: 7/1/1989 | Type of document: Management Plan

The purpose of the Plan is to manage the oyster resource by restoring oyster habitat, controlling fishing mortality, promoting aquaculture and continuing the repletion programs.

Oyster Fishery Management Plan (1994)

Publication date: 1/1/1994 | Type of document: Management Plan

The goal of the 1994 Oyster Fishery Management Plan is to enhance the production of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem by restoring habitat, controlling fishing mortality, promoting aquaculture and continuing the repletion programs.

2004 Chesapeake Bay Oyster Management Plan (354 KB) (Order hard-copy)

Publication date: 12/5/2005 | Type of document: Report

The Oyster Management Plan includes both a general framework and specific guidance for managing and rebuilding the native oyster stock in Chesapeake Bay. The development of the plan was a multi-partner endeavor by representatives from state and federal agencies, academia, environmental organizations, and the oyster industry. The strategies include evaluating the use of sanctuaries and harvest reserves to obtain optimum ecological and economic benefits; rebounding habitat; increasing hatchery production; breeding disease-resistant oysters; evaluating impediments to aquaculture; managing harvest; improving coordination among the oyster partners; and developing a database to track oyster ...

Chesapeake Bay Program Oyster Restoration: Workshop Proceedings and Agreement Statements (660 KB)

Publication date: 3/1/2000 | Type of document: Report

Report curtailing proceedings and agreement statements on oyster restoration derived from 2 day workshop held in Waldorf, MD on January 13 & 14, 2000. Contains important consensus statements derived from meeting, on oyster sanctuaries and restoration, as well as abstracts and editors' notes from each presentation

Evaluating Ecosystem Effects of Oyster Restoration in Chesapeake Bay-A report to the MD DNR (841 KB)

Publication date: 9/1/2005 | Type of document: Report

The Chesapeake Bay Environmental Model Package (CBEMP) was used to assess the environmental benefits of oyster restoration in Chesapeake Bay. The CBEMP consists of a coupled system of models including a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, a three-dimensional eutrophication model and a sediment diagenesis model

Exploring the Horseshoe Crab Fishery Management Plan

Publication date: 1/1/1991 | Type of document: Fact Sheet

Purpose of Plan is to protect the horseshoe crab's ecological role in the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coast through improved knowledge of stocks and the integration of specific habitat actions thus providing for its commercial, recreational and medical usage over time

Assessing a Ten-Fold Increase in the Chesapeake Bay Native Oyster Population (2.19 MB)

Publication date: 4/1/2005 | Type of document: Report

The Chesapeake Bay Environmental Model Package (CBEMP) was used to assess the environmental benefits of a ten-fold increase in native oysters in Chesapeake Bay. The CBEMP consists of a coupled system of models including a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, a three-dimensional eutrophication model, and a sediment diagenesis model. The existing CBEMP benthos submodel was modified to specifically represent the Virginia oyster, Crassostrea virginica. The ten-fold oyster restoration is computed to increase summer-average, bottom, dissolved oxygen in the deep waters of the bay (depth > 12.9 m) by 0.25 g m-3. Summer-average system-wide surface chlorophyll declines by 1 mg m-3. Filtration of ...

Adoption Statement - Aquatic Reef Habitat Plan (13 KB)

Publication date: 12/1/1994 | Type of document: Adoption Statement

The purpose of this Plan is to guide the development and implementation of a regional program to rebuild and restore reefs as habitat for oysters and other ecologically valuable aquatic species.

Aquatic Reef Habitat Management Plan

Publication date: 12/1/1994 | Type of document: Fact Sheet

Designed to improve the ecology of Chesapeake Bay; the ecological value of the oyster resource; to restore, augment, and set aside hard substrate on the Bay bottom to enhance reef community development and improve aquatic habitat; and to increase the stock of oysters in Chesapeake Bay

Identification and Prioritizing Research Required to Evaluate Ecological Risks and Benefits of Introducing Diploid Crassostrea ariakensis to Restore Oysters to Chesapeake Bay (363 KB)

Publication date: 12/1/2003 | Type of document: Report

Heavy fishing pressure, habitat degradation and high disease mortality have driven native oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations to historic low levels in Chesapeake Bay. In response, the states of Maryland and Virginia are considering introducing the Asian Suminoe oyster (C. ariakensis) with the goal of establishing a naturalized, self-sustaining population.

Neither the potential risks nor the potential benefits of such an introduction are adequately known at this time. The scientific community agrees that an introduction of ...